The Calf Rock
The calf rock lighthouse construction was finished in 1866 the first light was lit on the Calf Rock. The lighthouse was 121 ft high after the light was constructed it stood 136ft above hist water and was built of cast iron plates bolted to a central pillar.
1881 On 27 November 1881 the lighthouse was destroyed by a violent storm. The un-strengthened top of the lighthouse was swept away. The keeper was in the lower half of the lighthouse when it happened and the six men on the rock managed to make their way to the workers' dwellings carved into the rock face where they survived 12 days waiting to be rescued. A brave crew of seven fishermen captained by Michael O'Shea managed to row to Calf Rock and save the three keepers and three workers. All survived, and there is a plaque on the coastline today commemorating the survivors and rescuers.
With Calf Rock damaged beyond repair thoughts turned back twenty years to Bull Rock being the most suitable of the three rocks the Calf, the Cow and the Bull for the lighthouse. In February 1882 the Inspecting Committee of the Commissioners of Irish Lights recommended Bull Rock to Trinity House.
